- Uber aims for 1 million daily drone deliveries with Zipline partnership
Source: Engadget
“You could soon get your Uber Eats order delivered by a Zipline drone thanks to the latest partnership between the two companies. As detailed in an Uber press release, the company is targeting a goal of one million drone deliveries each day by end of 2029. The partnering companies also announced that the first deployments are scheduled for later this year, with drone deliveries first becoming available in Zipline’s existing US markets, including Pea Ridge, Ark. and the Dallas-Fort Worth metro, before expanding to dozens of more cities. On top of the combination of Uber’s network and Zipline’s drone fleet, Uber made a strategic investment into Zipline but didn’t disclose the financial details.” (08/17/26)
- NYC: 72-year-old woman sues gang for attacking her with pepper spray
Source: NBC News
“A 72-year-old woman says her civil rights were violated when an ICE agent in Manhattan sprayed her with pepper spray. Three weeks ago, Linda Wolff, an immigrant rights supporter who can often be found outside of Delaney Hall, said she was in Inwood when she got word ICE agents were [abducting people] in the area. She said she took out her phone and started recording. ‘I went back on the curb and was just filming ICE, and they walked over and they maced me,’ Wolff said Friday. ‘My civil rights were completely violated at that moment.’ Now, Wolff plans to take ICE to court.” (08/17/26)
- “Negotiations” Aren’t the Answer in Iran or Ukraine
Source: The Bulwark
by Brynn Tannehill“Fundamentally, the United States and Russia have both launched wars of choice from which they cannot easily extricate themselves. In Russia there is a history of very bad things happening to rulers who lose wars, and Putin is reportedly considering another mass mobilization, despite the disruption and discontent it will cause. Trump is facing the loss of both the House and the Senate, and is open to declaring a national emergency to rule by fiat and rewrite election rules to rig the elections. In other words, both Russian and American leaders are enmeshed in a war they can’t seem to win, and to stave off the consequences of losing, both are willing to take steps that will produce massive unrest. The key difference between the countries is that Russia still has a semi-plausible path to victory.” (08/17/26)
- Has Trump’s War on Immigrants Made America Great Again?
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“Upon being elected president, both the first time and the second time, President Trump vowed to make America great again. That’s what his MAGA movement has been all about. Central to Trump’s vow has been his war on immigrants, which I think most everyone would describe as ruthless and brutal. … Has all this immigration police-state mayhem made America great again? It sure doesn’t seem so to me. In fact, all I see is things getting worse and worse, especially from the standpoint of liberty, peace, prosperity, and harmony.” (08/17/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/08/17/has-trumps-war-on-immigrants-made-america-great-again/
- Campus hecklers are silencing pro-Israel speakers. Speech codes are not the fix.
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Max Friedman“There is no First Amendment privilege to prevent someone else from speaking in reserved spaces. Blocking others from expressing viewpoints that may be uncommon or unpopular on campus frustrates the marketplace of ideas: It interferes with others’ right to listen and leaves the campus community with an incomplete understanding of the debate. This principle applies equally to all speakers, including those expressing pro-Israel viewpoints. Universities have the tools they need to respond to these incidents. For example, they can prohibit students from intentionally, materially, and substantially disrupting others’ expressive activities in reserved spaces, and they can discipline students who violate that prohibition. … What these institutions — and the state — should not do is respond to illiberal actions by proposing illiberal remedies, such as incorporating the vague and viewpoint-discriminatory IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism into campus harassment policies.” (08/17/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/campus-hecklers-are-silencing-pro-israel-speakers-speech-codes-are-not-fix
- How a Self-help Book Resolved a Philosophical Conundrum Part 1
Source: The Jolly Libertarian
by Marco den Ouden“I was undecided on what to call this essay and had thought about Reconciling David Hume and Ayn Rand. I even thought about having AI generate a graphic for it. Ayn and David duking it out in a boxing ring. Ayn and David engaged in a sword fight but using giant pens instead of swords. Or maybe a referee holding up both their gloved hands and ruling the match a draw. I hadn’t thought much about Hume since university in the late 60s and early 70s. But I was intrigued when I read Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. … Haidt reintroduced me to Hume. In particular, Hume’s maxim that ‘reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey.'” (08/17/26)
https://jollylibertarian.blogspot.com/2026/08/how-self-help-book-resolved.html
- A Special Kind of Person
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders“A special kind of person walks among us. Under the right institutional conditions, she is capable of assembling people and resources to serve others sustainably. If she fails to serve others—say, if enough of them are unhappy with the product or service she offers—she will be unable to continue her efforts. So, her efforts come with great risk, and some risks have clear odds. Hers? Not so much. An insurer will price the chance that her business burns down because businesses have burned down before. Yet no one will sell her a policy against her failure to serve others well. … She, the entrepreneur, also has to serve others sustainably despite the presence of interlopers.” (08/17/26)
- The Simple Lesson of Jason Arday: Don’t Be a Fraud
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter“It’s a sad story, the life of Jason Arday – the former Cambridge professor exposed as a fraud and plagiarist, who is now suspected of killing himself. I didn’t know him, had barely heard of him, but it was pretty clear that much of the life story he sold the world did not add up. Just how much of it was fake will come out eventually, but none of it needed to be. People must realize that it is what you actually do that matters, not your sad tale of woe nor any part of your biography.” (08/17/26)
- When does protest become terrorism?
Source: Project Liberal
by Oliver Gale“How the UK is changing the rules on petty crime to attack free speech.” (08/17/26)
https://projectliberal.substack.com/p/when-does-protest-become-terrorism
- Israel creates fake think tank in likely attempt to dupe AI chatbots
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Nick Cleveland-Stout“At a glance, the Hanover Institute for Public Policy looks like a new think tank dedicated to Israel/Palestine. The organization churns out think-tank style reports on questions such as ‘Does AIPAC Use ‘Dark Money in Elections?’ and ‘Is Israel Carrying out a Deliberate Campaign of Starvation in Gaza?’ But the Hanover Institute is not a real think tank. None of the reports have bylines. A small disclaimer at the bottom of the webpage notes that the organization was created on behalf of the Israeli Government Advertising Agency by Piro, Inc, a firm co-founded by Daniel Rosenberg, the producer of Spike Lee’s ‘Inside Man.’ The Hanover Institute’s reports — all of which are about Israel and Palestine — appear to be part of an Israeli effort to influence chatbots.” (08/17/26)
- Japan eyes nonartificial intelligence
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“In trying to hatch their own artificial intelligence, many countries are playing catch-up to the two world giants: the United States and China. In recent months, however, Japan has taken a different course. It admits it cannot create the most advanced AI models. Yet it might be the first nation to put AI at the center of a new economic strategy. In late July, Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s Cabinet approved a plan to inject $2.3 trillion in public and private investment toward strengthening key industries by 2040, starting with AI and the computer chips that run it. The plan goes beyond merely automating current work, improving efficiencies, cutting costs, or boosting the economy. It would also enhance human creativity and innovation by focusing on applying AI to real-world problems – starting on the factory floor of Japan’s existing world-class manufacturing industries.” (08/14/26)
- The School Shooter Civilization
Source: Liberal Currents
by John Banks“‘Civilizationist’ thinking, once confined to the radical fringe and the manifestos of mass killers, has moved to the center of American foreign policy.” (08/17/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-schoool-shooter-civilization/
- Reason Roundtable, 08/17/26
Source: Reason
“Who Pays for Medicare for All?” (08/17/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/08/17/who-pays-for-medicare-for-all/
- Rising, 08/17/26
Source: The Hill
“obby Soave gives his radar on Candace Owens saying she thinks there’s a ‘zero percent’ chance that Tyler Robinson, the man accused of murdering Charlie Kirk, is the true culprit.” (08/17/26)
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/17/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Trump To Oman: ‘We’ll Bomb The Sh*t Out of You!'” (08/17/26)